Keystone pipeline's fate to be decided during Obama's term

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama plans to decide before leaving office whether to approve the controversial Keystone XL pipeline that would send Canadian crude oil to US refineries.

Eric Schultz, a White House spokesman, said yesterday that the issue will be resolved before January 2017.

"That approval process is being handled on the merits," he told reporters.

The 1,900-kilometre TransCanada-built pipeline would transport crude from oil sands in energy-rich Alberta province to a network of pipelines that reach across the United States to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico.

Because the project crosses a border, the US State Department must give its approval first, but the case is still being studied nearly seven years after TransCanada made its first request.

Obama has the ultimate authority on the pipeline, and he is facing pressure from environmentalists who stress his past vows on climate change.

But Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper was doubtful, saying the repeated delays in approval were "not a hopeful sign."

"I believe that whether this project goes ahead or not under this administration, it will ultimately go ahead under a subsequent administration," Harper told Bloomberg.

"A positive decision has not been rendered for a very long time, that's obviously not a hopeful sign.

"I think there's very peculiar politics of this particular administration."

Republicans argue the Keystone project would create 42,000 construction jobs, but many critics, mainly Democrats, have warned it has potential oil spill risks and would actually create very few permanent jobs.